i hope they take this game seriously. hawaii makes a living off of hustling trap games. theyre crowds/fans can also be ruthlessly classless. believe izzo had lots of complaints when msu played the rainbow warriors at home.

I love it that the team went to Pearl. (and so many of them were moved by it.) My wife and I started our day there and ended it on the Surrender Deck of the Missouri.
we had a fantastic day and will remember it forever.
I can still see and smell the oil when we were on the Arizona Memorial.

Leave for Hawaii tomorrow & staying at team hotel. Does anyone know what time the shoot around is for the team Friday morning & what time the bus leaves the hotel for the game? I would like to cheer the players on!!

According to kenpom, they are ranked 229. Looking at their previous box scores, they seem to rely on three-four guys pretty heavily for the bulk of the minutes. They have size and are very forward heavy and have some good experience. This game seems tough even though they may not be ranked as high as St. Francis, but they could pose some match-up problems for our guards.

Those seem like the guys that get the heaviest rotation. I think it will be interesting to see if the Illini can wear these guys out with our athleticism and out-rebound/guard their length as a team. Should make for a good game.

3 of the 4 guys listed are transfers. Joaquin is the only guy other than the three freshman who get serious time that has only been a Rainbow He is a big, strong center but endurance seems to be a problem. I couldn't imagine what his numbers would be if he played 30 mpg and this guy along with Karnowski from Gonzaga are why Ibby is a valuable member of our squad. Brereton is their leading scorer after starting his career at University of Northern Colorado, Stanhardinger played for Nebraska for two years before heading West, and Brandon Spearman started at Dayton before palying his sophomore year at a community college. They also have a immediately eligible guard from Utah who starts. Hawaii also starts and plays three freshman in their top 8.

I watched these guys the other night and I'm going to reiterate that this will not be a cakewalk even for a team with a lot of new parts.

Gonzaga has depth in my opinion. Stockton looked really good and actually played more than Pangos. Hart had a solid game on both sides of the ball plus the Dragnisis(sp) kid who is a rs freshman earned time. They'll also have Olynik back to further solidify one of the best front courts in the country with Sam Dower, Elias Harris, Karnowski, and Kelly Olynik. Pangos and Bell could play on any team in America and I'm serious when I say Edi is much improved.

West Va shot 11% from three and 27% from two. They were never in it. I don't know if the 1 a.m east coast start time out west or playing in the raucous Kennel was the problem. I think both hurt, the refs didn't help with all the whistles early and everything GB jr threw up went in. I will say the Mountaineers looked extremely selfish. They'll be competitive this year and finish in the top 6 in my opinion in the Big 12.

Leave for Hawaii tomorrow & staying at team hotel. Does anyone know what time the shoot around is for the team Friday morning & what time the bus leaves the hotel for the game? I would like to cheer the players on!!